Open-end ratcheting wrench



March 29, 1955 v. A. H. A. BARTLETT 2,704,953

OPEN-END RATCHETING WRENCH Filed June 18, 1952 'LL-fl: l I Il r 77 /5 I4 jpl/M7041 United States Patent() 2,704,953 OPEN-END RATCHETING WRENCH Victor Alfred Henry Arthur Bartlett, London, England Application `lune 18, 1952, Serial No. 294,117

Claims priority, application Great Britain August 27, 1951 2 Claims. (Cl. 81-9l) This invention relates to wrenches and has for its chief object to provide an open ended wrench wherein provision is made for a ratchet action.

According to the invention the wrench comprises an operative or gripping head including two relatively movable jaw members, an operating handle associated with said head and means associated with the handle adapted on movement of the latter in one direction to cause a positive relative inward movement of the jaw members and on movement of said handle in the reverse direction to allow of free relative movement between said jaw members.

In acco-rdance with a further aspect, the invention comprises an open ended wrench comprising an operative or gripping head consisting of two jaw members capable of relative angular movement, a handle on which said head is pivotally mounted and means associated with the handle adapted on movement of the latter in one direction to co-operate with the jaw members in such a manner as to cause the same to move inwardly relatively to each other, thereby to exert a gripping action on any nut or the like to which the wrench is applied, the arrangement being such that on reverse movement of the handle, the gripping action of the jaws will be discontinued.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a wrench constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 shows a section on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, denotes a handle which carries the operative or gripping head of the wrench, such head comprising two jaw members 11 and 12. bolt or the like 13 to a projecting portion 14 of the handle 10, the arrangement being such that said member is capable of a limited pivotal movement about the bolt or the like 13. In the embodiment illustrated the jaw member 11 is formed with a recess 15 which serves to accommodate the portion 14 of the handle and also to provide two raised portions or shoulders 16 which will be eiective to limit the degree of pivotal movement of said member relatively to the handle. The jaw member 12 is connected to the member 11 by means of a pin or rivet 17, the arrangement being such that it will be capable of free pivotal movement about said pin or rivet. In the embodiment illustrated the jaw member 12 is formed with a reduced portion or tongue 18 which is adapted to tit into a slot formed in the appropriate end of the jaw member 11, the pin or rivet 17 being inserted through aligned apertures in the portion of said latter member dening the slot and in said reduced portion or tongue 18. The jaw member 12 is also so formed as to incorporate a projecting portion or shoulder 19, the purposeof which will be hereinafter made apparent.

The handle 10 is also formed or provided with a lateral extension 20 of curved or arcuate shape, such extension being adapted to function as a pawl or dog and to cooperate with the shoulder 19 on the jaw member 12. In addition, the handle 10 carries a leaf spring 21, one end of which is anchored to said handle (as by means of screws 22) while the outer or free end is adapted to bear on the outer surface of the jaw member 11 thereby resiliently to retain the parts in the positions indicated in Figure 1.

The jaw member 11 is connected by means of a ice As indicated at 23 the appropriate surfaces of the jaw members 11 and 12 are preferably serrated or roughened in order to provide gripping surfaces.

The construction of the wrench is such that the Jaw members 11 and 12 are capable of limited movement inwardly or outwardly relatively to eachother thereby to accommodate nuts or the like of differing sizes and also to allow of application and withdrawal of the wrench to and from such nuts or the like.

Assuming that the wrench as illustrated in Figure l is applied to a nut then-it will be appreciated that on movement of the handle 10 yin a clockwise direction, the dog 20 will be caused to bear on the shoulder 19 of the jaw member 12 and on continued pressure on said handle will force said member tightly to grip the nut, the jaw member l1 being held stationary relatively to the handle by virtue of the abutment of the left hand shoulder 16 (as may be seen in Figure 1) against the upper curved surface of the dog 20. Upon reverse movement of the handle 10 i. e. anti-clockwise movement, the pressure of the dog 20 on the shoulder 19 of the jaw member 12 will be relieved and thus the grip exerted by said latter member on the nut will be released thereby allowing a relative opening movement of the jaw members to take place. Thus on anti-clockwise movement of the handle the wrench may be swung relatively to the nut or the like, without imparting any movement to the latter. Upon again reversing the movement'imparted to the handle 10, the jaw members will again be caused to grip the nut or the like and to imparta rotational movement thereto. It will be appreciated that by appropriate positioning of the wrench on the nut or the like, the operative stroke may be effected with either a clockwise or anti-clockwise movement of the handle 10.

By connecting the operative orgripping head of the wrench to the handle 10 by means of a bolt or the like, such as 13, it will be possible readily to remove and replace said head by a larger or smaller one if so desired.

Finally, it will be obvious that instead of forming the jaw member with straight operative or gripping surfaces, as shown, such surfaces may be of curved or any other suitable shape or they may be arranged to extend at any desired angle relatively to each other.

I claim: i

l. An open-end ratcheting wrench comprising an operating handle, a single laterally directed extension at one end of said handle, such extension incorporating a surface of arcuate shape, a firstf-jaw member pivotally mounted on said handle at a point'eccentric with respect to the arcuate surface of said extension, said jaw member including a tail portion disposed adjacent to and adapted to co-operate with said arcuate surface, a second jaw member pivotally mounted on the.' tail portion of said first jaw member at a point offset Vlaterally with respect to the pivotal mounting of the latter member on the handle, said two jaw members being relatively so disposed as to form together an operative head to the wrench and' an abutment surface on said second jaw member against which the free end of the extension on said handle is adapted to abut on movement of said handle in one direction, the arrangement being such that on application of the wrench to a nut and movement of the handle in said one direction the arcuate surface on the extension will, due to the eccentric mounting of the first jaw niember, frictionally engage with the tail portion of the latter to hold said iirst jaw member in a predetermined position while the extension will bear on the abutment surface on said second jaw member thereby to move the latter member inwardly relatively to said rst jaw member to exert a gripping action on the nut which action will be released to allow movement of the wrench relatively to said. nut on movement of the handle in the reverse direction.

2. An open-end ratcheting wrench comprising an operating handle, a single laterallydirected extension at one end of said handle, such extension incorporating a surface of arcuate shape, a first jaw member pivotally mounted on said handle at a point eccentric with respect to the arcuate surface of said extension, said jaw member including a tail portion having an arcuate surface conforming and disposed adjacent to that of said exten- Patented Mar. 29, 1955 sion, a second jaw member pivotally mounted on the tail portion of said rst jaw member at a point otset lateral' ly with respect to the pivotal mounting of said latter member on the handle, said jaw members being relatively so disposed as to form together an operative head for the wrench, an abutment surface on said second jaw member against which the free end of the extension may be caused to bear on movement of the handle in one direction and a spring co-operating with said rst jaw member to maintain the latter in a predetermined normal position, the arrangement being such that on application of the wrench to a nut and movement of the handle in said one direction the arcuate surface on the extension will, due to the eccentric mounting of the rst jaw member, frictionally engage with the tail portion of the latter, thereby to hold said rst jaw member in a set position in relation to the handle while lthe extension will abut against the abutment surface on said second jaw member, thereby to move the latter member inwardly relatively to said trst jaw member to exert a gripping action on the nut, the engagement between the extension and said abutment surface being broken on reverse movement of the handle, to allow the jaw members to open under the action of the spring associated with said first jaw member alrlxd thereby to allow movement of the wrench relatively to t e nut.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 613,573 Jacoby Nov. 1, 1898 1,219,316 Hucal Mar. 13, 1917 2,476,369 Gutowski July 19, 1949 2,537,838 Logan Jan. 9, 1951 

